Free Move Over Darling by Christine Stovell

it spurted out at her. She couldn’t let Gethin leave without at least trying to get him on board.
    The Church’s surprising decision to hand the church hall over to a management committee for use as a community resource was a poisoned chalice, even the Vicar agreed. On first sight, it was great news that the everyday use of the hall was in the hands of the people who mattered, the people of Penmorfa. Looked at closer, though, and there were onerous duties, not just for financial responsibilities, but requirements to get the building up to scratch, and then to keep it in an acceptable state of repair.
    ‘I’m not asking you to move back, Gethin, but I do need your help.’
    His eyes narrowed. ‘With what?’
    ‘Don’t look like that.’ She laughed. ‘It’s just a small favour. At the moment, we don’t even have a suitable building for all these community activities to take place, but there are a number of grants we can apply for if we renovate the church hall. In the meantime, we’re hoping to secure a short-term loan of say, about thirty thousand pounds.’
    ‘A bridging loan? Won’t that be too expensive?’
    ‘Not if we get it from ACORN, a charity offering financial support to rural communities. And it would enable us to kick-start the rebuilding work until the grants come through. We’re looking at total costs in the region of about one hundred and fifty thousand, but we’ll need some willing volunteers and a lot of fund-raising events to pay for it. We’re making a start with this year’s Valentine’s dance and all I need you to do is to come along and draw the raffle.’
    She saw the shutters come down and his lips start to form the refusal. She took a deep breath. ‘Please. We’ve a huge task ahead of us for a small village and right now we can’t even agree on the membership of the Hall Management Committee.’
    ‘Let me guess who’s causing all the problems.’
    ‘Well, Mair’s made it plain that she expects to take the Chair, whereas other people have hinted they’d like to see someone with, shall we say, a more forward-looking approach.’
    ‘Someone like you, you mean?’
    Alys nodded. ‘Obviously, if you have to return to the States before the raffle, we’ll work round it. I’m sure Delyth will be only too happy for Hefin to step in, but it’s not much to ask and a community hall on the doorstep would serve such an important role in reducing isolation. Think of what it would mean to those vulnerable, frail and elderly people who would otherwise be stuck in their homes.’
    People like his mother, she didn’t need to spell out. Gethin had moved away but had yet to make his name when Katrin became ill. Unkind voices sometimes linked the two events, even though Gethin had visited as often as his father would allow. Poor Katrin, overruled by her husband even during her final illness; she’d been so grateful for the respite of the occasional coffee morning, despite the painful chill of the draughty church hall which was so hard for her gaunt frame to bear.
    ‘It’s a win-win, isn’t it?’ she continued softly. ‘You can prove to the doubters that you’re not such a bad guy after all, and the publicity will help draw attention to our cause.’
    She watched as he gave a wry smile and held up his hands in resignation. ‘Yeah, all right, Alys, next thing you’ll be telling me I can walk on water, too. I’ll draw the raffle for you.’
    ‘Good.’ She nodded. ‘And I’ll get Huw to chase up the builders for you. He ought to be able to find someone who wants to do the job.’
    Her reassuring smile faded as Gethin gave a short laugh before thanking her and walking away. Yes, Huw ought to be able to help, but the question was, would he? She touched her hand to the deep pink leaves of ‘Heartbreaker’. These days she was no longer sure.
    Another advantage of moving to Penmorfa, thought Coralie, as she sat watching the sea after work, was that she’d saved a fortune on gym